If you need it for professional photography, buy SLR. Otherwise its a waste of money. Small point and shoot digital cameras have the same picture quality but less contorl on other aspects( like light , tone, zoom etc). Those controls basically you dont need for simple day to day photography. If you need SLR I suggest Canon rebel, they come for minimum of 8Pix and starts from ~$900. Other thing....the lenses and filters (to make much use of SLR) are damn expensive......and is bulkier to move around, unless you live on it.

Chatmandu, I recommend you Fujifilm S9500 (unkown as S9000 in US ).

nikon 8700 is your answer

I use Digital Rebel XT. a very nice camera.

Go through the spec. If you are going for prosumer camera, S9500 is the answer. Format SLR-like Price (street) US$592 Also known as Fujifilm FinePix S9500 Camera body Release Status Max resolution 3488 x 2616 Low resolution 2592 x 1944, 2048 x 1536, 1600 x 1200, 640 x 480 Image ratio w:h 4:3, 3:2 Effective pixels 9.1 million Sensor photo detectors 9.2 million Sensor size 1/1.6 " Sensor type CCD Colour filter array RGB Sensor manufacturer Fujifilm SuperCCD V HR ISO rating Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 Zoom wide (W) 28 mm Zoom tele (T) 300 mm (10.7 x) Digital zoom Yes, 2x Image stabilization No Auto Focus Yes Manual Focus Yes Auto focus type Unknown Normal focus range 50 cm Macro focus range 1 cm White balance override 7 positions plus manual Aperture range F2.8 - F4.9 Min shutter 30 sec Max shutter 1/4000 sec Built-in Flash Yes, pop-up Flash guide no. 5.6 m (18.3 ft) 6 m External flash Yes, hot-shoe Flash modes Auto, On, Red-eye reduction, Slow, Off Exposure compensation -2.0 EV to +2.0 EV in 0.3 EV steps Metering 256 segment, CW-average, Spot, Multi-point Aperture priority Yes Shutter priority Yes Focal length multiplier Lens thread Yes Continuous Drive Yes Movie Clips Yes, 640 x 480, 320 x 240, 30 fps with audio Remote control No Tripod mount Yes Self-timer 2 or 10 sec Time-lapse recording No Orientation sensor No Storage types xD Picture Card + Compact Flash Type I or II Storage included 16 MB xD Picture Card Uncompressed format RAW Compressed format JPEG (EXIF 2.2) Quality Levels Basic, Normal, Fine Viewfinder EVF LCD 1.8 " LCD Pixels 118,000 Playback zoom Yes Video out Yes USB Yes, 2.0 Firewire (IEEE 1394) No Battery / Charger Yes Battery AA NiMH (4) batteries included Weight (inc. batteries) 745 g (26.3 oz) Dimensions 128 x 93 x 129 mm (5 x 3.7 x 5.1 in) Notes Resolution Chart Colour Patches

Chatmandude SLR camera (both film and digital) is a whole new beast when compared to compact point-n-shoot cameras. If you learn to use them correctly and be able to use the features they offer it can take you to great heights however if you are not able to learn and not be able to use the features they offer, most likely SLR cameras will screw you badly and it will be a worthless investment. There are three levels of SLRs (for both digital and film) Entry level: such as Canon Rebel, Nikon D50 Mid level and serious amatures: Canon Rebel XT, Canon 20D, Nikon D70 Semi Pro and Fully Pro: Canon 5D, Nikon D200 When it comes to lenses each Brand has a huge line up of lenses. Lenes come in focal lengths from 10mm ultra wide angle lens to 1200mm super telephoto lens. There is an option to choose lens that are either have fixed focal length or zooms (variable focal length). If you want to use DSLR for taking pics for enlargement of more than 14 inch across in size I would suggest you to buy a camera of 8MP and above such as Canon REBEL XT: 8MP (suited for entry level photographers) Canon 20D: 8 MP (suited for entry level and serious amature photographers) Nikon D200: 10.2 MP (suited for serious amatures) Entry level DSLRs currently cost around 900-1000 $ in package (body and lens kit) such as Canon Rebel, Nikon D50. You also have option to buy body only and buy the lens of your choice seperately.

Been using d70 for about a year now. If your are looking for something around 500-700, then d50 would be the one. But I would suggest putting 200-300 more and going for d70. It has been awesome for an amateur like me. Like khaobadi said buying the body by itself and then getting lenses of your choice would be a good idea. Good luck. Peace.

The worst part about Digital SLR is that they are more expensive than compact camera and yet on average DSLRs have an average life of about 2 years before they become outdated. I feel not so happy to buy lens that are designed specifically for DSLRs because it cannot be used on 35mm film SLR (you get black corners on your pics if you use them of film SLR). On the other hand, lens for 35mm film work seamlessly with DSLRs with no problem whatsoever expect you gain focal lenth by a factor of 1.5 to 1.6 (depending on brand).

If u are not into serious photography then you should not just go and purchase a DSLR- a prosumer camera is suffice

For portrait photography I use Nikon's Nikkor 80-200mm F2.8 ED lens on my D70s body and Nikon F-80 (film SLR). This lens is designed specifically for portraits, sports and nature photography and it is soft lens compared to even the crappy 150 $ 28-80mm G type lens (which is surprisingly 10 times cheaper than 80-200mm F2.6 ED). When I use it on my D70s this lens loose focal length on the widest end and gain focal length on the telephoto end because digital SLRs have image sensor that are smaller than 35mm frame of film.

The funny thing about Fujifilm cameras is the fact that their top of line DSLR cameras were built based on the chassis of Nikon F-80 film SLR. Fujifilm S2 and S3 are perfect examples and even S9500 shows many similar body features(even it's not interchangable lens camera) to that of Nikon F-80. Both S2 and S3 accepts Nikon mount lenses.

This is a pic from my Nikon D70s with Nikon 80-200mm F2.8 ED lens taken last week at Toronto Public Library. Image is rather soft becuse 80-200mm f2.8 lens is soft.

maile ta SLR bhaneko Self Loading Rifle- (Machine Gun) kinna lageko ho ki bhanthaneko!!!!!